# Blade Brown

Jonathan James Wrate (born 12 February 1985), known professionally as Blade Brown is a British rapper and songwriter from Battersea, London. He released the mixtape series Bags and Boxes, and the Financial Times mixtapes. XXL has compared his style to that of early Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane.

## Biography
### Early life and career beginnings (1985–2006)

Wrate was born on 12 February 1985 in Streatham, later moving to Battersea. He is a supporter of Manchester United F.C. He was first exposed to hip hop through his father who would listen to 80s and 90s hip hop as well as reggae at home, all of which influenced Wrate to take an interest in music and start rapping more seriously around the age of 17. He released his debut mixtape entitled Nothing Long Volume 1 under Defenders Entertainment in 2004, but he took a break from music following a spell of both underground and commercial success through the mixtape which was played on mainstream radio stations such as Choice FM, BBC Radio 1Xtra and Kiss FM, as well as street DVDs in circulation at the time such as Streetz Incarcerated, Streetz Is Raw and Welcome to the city. Between 2005 and 2006 he recorded material for a second mixtape, which was initially entitled Nothing Long Volume 2, but it was never released due to the legal troubles Wrate was experiencing at the time, as well as a change in his own preferences as he has stated that he did not want to release many of the songs he had recorded.

### Business Ventures

Blade Brown is the owner of the clothing label BXB LDN. BXB LDN done a fashion collaboration season with the worldwide fashion brand founded from West London called "Trapstar".

## Discography
### Collaborative mixtapes

| Title | Released | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Released | Details | UK | UK R&B |
| Hollowman meets Blade (with Giggs (rapper)) | Released: 2007 | Label: SN1 Records, Formats: CD, Digital Download | | |
| Joints (with K-Trap) | Released: 25 March 2022 | Label: BXB Ent Ltd., Thousand8 Records Formats: CD, Digital Download | 18 | 2 |

### Mixtapes

| Title | Released | Details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Released | Details | UK |
| Nothing Long Volume 1 | 2004 | Label: Defenders Entertainment Formats: CD | — |
| Best of Blade | 2009 | Label: Ruthless Records Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Bags and Boxes | Released: 31 March 2010 | Host: Mykal Million Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Financial Times | Released: 31 March 2011 | Label: Hill Productions Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Best of Blade 2 | Released: 9 February 2012 | Host: Charlie Sloth Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Bags and Boxes 2 | Released: 30 November 2012 | Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Best of Blade 3 | Released: 14 October 2014 | Host: Big Bad Blue Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| Bags and Boxes 3 | Released: 31 November 2014 | Label: Self-released Formats: CD, digital download | 42 |
| Bags and Boxes 4 | Released: 16 August 2019 | Label: Catalyst Records Formats: Digital download, streaming | 12 |
| "—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory. ||||

### Other charted songs

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | UK | Album |
| "Joints" (featuring K-Trap) | 2019 | 70 | Bags and Boxes 4 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Event | Prize | Nominated work | Result |
| 2010 | Official Mixtape Awards | Best Hip Hop Mixtape | Bags and Boxes | Nominated |
| 2012 | Official Mixtape Awards | Mixtape of the Year | Financial Times | Won |
| 2012 | Official Mixtape Awards | Best Hip Hop Mixtape | Financial Times | Won |
| 2012 | Official Mixtape Awards | Best Male Artist | | Nominated |
| 2013 | Official Mixtape Awards | Best Overall Mixtape | Bags and Boxes 2 | Nominated |
| 2015 | Rated Awards | Best Video | Drug Dealer (featuring Tiggs Da Author) | Nominated |

## Net Worth £1

* ↑ "BLOCKS HOT". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
* ↑ One To Watch... Blade Brown
* ↑ ""My Music Is Wrapped Around Real Life Experiences": An Interview With South London's Trap-Rap Ringleader, Blade Brown". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
* ↑ “I hear other rappers but I’m better than them”- Blade Brown
* ↑ Blade Brown: the interview!
* ↑ Krept & Konan Crowned MTV's Best Of The Best UK MCs Of 2013!
* ↑ G4 Boyz – Alexander Wang (Remix) Feat. Blade Brown
* ↑ 15 New European Rappers
* ↑ "Blade Brown Talks Music, Football Upbringing & Manchester United". SoccerBible. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
* ↑ Oke, Tobi (25 May 2011). "Blade Brown: the interview!". MTV UK. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
* ↑ BXB LDN Website - https://bxbldn.com/
* ↑ Trapstar: the West London hustle that went global - BBC London - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV6M-jkr1yg
* 1 2 3 "Blade Brown | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
* ↑ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
* ↑ "Blade Brown & K-Trap's 'Joints' Project Has Finally Arrived". Complex. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
* ↑ UK Official Album Charts: Bags and Boxes 3
* ↑ The Official Mixtape Awards (OMA’s) Nominations Are In
* ↑ OMS Awards Nominations 2013 Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ RATED AWARDS ANNOUNCE CATEGORIES & NOMINEES